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We are so pleased to be working with Sewell and Dallas Love Field on this very successful sponsorship. It is a privilege to collaborate with two organizations that are held in such high regard in order to create unexpected and positive experiences that align strategically with both groups’ business objectives. The results at the halfway point have exceeded everyone’s expectations, and we are all energized at the thought of what we will all accomplish together.

As the father of two young sons beginning the teen years, I have become increasingly aware that guys really do need deodorant. I was surprised when I could not immediately recall the brand I have been using for too many years to count. While I could remember the “orange cap and the likelihood it was made by Gillette,” I honestly didn’t recall the actual product name.

If you think about it, since we try to limit our trips to the big box, mega retailers to every 90 days or so (purchasing in mega-pak quantities), it isn’t surprising that some of the brands we use all the time can be lost from our “mental shelf space” – especially if you are lucky enough to have someone take the visit to mega store off your “to do” list.

Airport Sampling is a great way to reach thousands of unique visitors every day within our airport network where consumers have shown a huge likelihood to try a new product. There is just something to the art of human interaction with introducing a new product to a new consumer in a way that surprises and delights. We have the good fortune to work with some great consumer brands like Dunkin, Pepsi, Mondelez, Unilever and others that have provided countless examples of brand ambassadors putting smiles on consumers’ faces.

Two-thirds of consumers try products they’re offered, regardless of whether they are familiar with the brand/product or whether they’ve purchased the product before.

35% of shoppers buy sampled products the same day.

Acquisition, Conversion, and Retention – Almost half (47%) of consumers who never heard of the product before they sampled it plan to buy it in the future. Six in 10 consumers who sampled the product they are familiar with but never bought before plan to buy it in the future. Eighty-five percent of current customers plan to buy the product they sampled again.

*Arbitron Product Sampling Study – 2008

The next time a brand ambassador offers me that new deodorant or shampoo, I will be the guy at the head of the line, grabbing 2 samples.

Millions of people travel through our airports each day, spending an average dwell time of over 90 minutes. We are thrilled to launch this exclusive sponsorship opportunity in some of the nation’s busiest airports to allow a select group of Health & Wellness brands to engage, educate, and entertain millions of unique visitors every day. Walking paths, interactive health stations, healthy travel tips, exciting events, data collection, and much more will foster direct to consumer relationships in order to drive new sales for our brand partners. AMI will manage it all, allowing you to focus on the important stuff – bottom line results by creating impactful experiences for millions of valuable consumers while developing health partners for life.

Please download our flyer by clicking on the link below to see some of our ideas and let us know what you think!

“EBE” may sound like an affliction that should come with the customary side effect warnings that cause most of us to reach for the remote control but “extending the brand experience” seems to be on almost every corporate marketer’s agenda. You can’t read Ad Age, Mediapost, etc without a story on how Brand X has forged a new relationship with (at-times) unlikely partners in order to cast their brand attributes into the extended real world. Whether strategies include Avatars, mobile device screens, taxi tops, billboards, flash mobs, pizza box tops or even carving your logo into a Kansas cornfield……much has been done for brands to move past signage on showroom floors for the brick and mortar group and the banner ads for those working in cyberspace.

Our work has shown, and we truly believe, there is significant value for a brand that can effectively deliver an unexpected and enhanced experience through “surprise and delight” types of activities. Over the last 14 years, we have had the good fortune to work with a group of “forward thinking” airport management teams and our strategic partner Clear Channel Airports to launch sponsorship programs with some of the world’s greatest brands. If you take a deep breath and really look around the next time you are in an airport, I think you will agree they are generally nice places to be (unless Joe Biden calls your airport “third world”). No disrespect intended to all my friends and former co-workers at American Airlines but it isn’t the airports that are charging increased baggage fees and limiting legroom….in fact most airports provide an environment ripe for brands to make a significant and positive impact on millions of people 365 days a year.

Through our newly created AMI blog, we look forward to contributing ideas on how smart brands will further integrate into daily life experiences, hopefully in ways that will put smiles on people’s faces. We are proud of our team’s work and will occasionally highlight examples of collaboration with brands like Google, Pepsi, Lexus, Best Buy, and others … that have enhanced experiences inside some of the busiest airports in the country. We won’t be perfect (I have a family at home the reminds me of that every day) but we will strive to think differently about experiences we have all grown accustomed to as being “just the way it is”.

As every traveler knows, airports are rarely a pleasant experience. Long security lines, delayed flights and other inconveniences can quickly turn into a major headache.

Looking to enhance the traveling experience—and generate a new source of revenue—a growing number of airports are hosting experiential marketing programs.

Boston’s Logan International Airport last month rolled out a health and wellness-themed program for Steward Health Care System. The program includes walking paths in the airport, blood pressure screenings and other health and wellness-related activities for airport guests.

“We work with airports to identify their points of pain. Many don’t have the dollars to address those issues, so we help out with corporate partners who can enhance the passenger experience,” said Jeff Eischen, chief operating officer of Airport Marketing Income, a marketing agency that created the program.

AMI also has created programs around parking garages, restaurants and other airport facilities. For example, the agency last year launched a preferred parking program for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. at Logan International Airport that offered preferred parking for Lexus owners and a coupon for a free appetizer at Legal Sea Foods Café, a restaurant located in the airport.

Other AMI clients include Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; O’Hare International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

Original article was published on January 30, 2014 and can be found by clicking here: